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I just looked over DQ's filings. Looks like they did a follow on not too long ago? So that cash is funding this expansion?

Also... can it be possible that China is fighting tariffs by secretly passing funding to their solar giants?

Chins has already fought US tariffs on them. It's not new. US solar cell tariffs on China was introduced during Obama presidency. US were a minority market for China cells. China was a majority market for US polysilicon (a much more complex product to produce). US polysilicon industry shrank. China cell industry grew.

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2019 EPS estimate down to $4.72. Two months ago it was $8.54. I think all the things we've been talking about are slowly starting to sink in over at the analysts. They earn much more than us but also need a little more time to smell the coffee.

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2019 EPS estimate down to $4.72. Two months ago it was $8.54. I think all the things we've been talking about are slowly starting to sink in over at the analysts. They earn much more than us but also need a little more time to smell the coffee.

Where did you see that number Klothilde. Thanks

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2019 EPS estimate down to $4.72. Two months ago it was $8.54. I think all the things we've been talking about are slowly starting to sink in over at the analysts. They earn much more than us but also need a little more time to smell the coffee.

I think some momentum traders might trade on the estimates trend. The current estimate is often understated for its direction, meaning the trend is likely to continue for a while possibly until realized (e.g. for 2019 EPS). Analysts estimates are biased towards current known state vs a speculative prediction of a future state. This allows them to make many smaller revisions as speculative predictions become increasingly confimed during change rather than one big early one, on average at least. Maybe this serves their purpose or is just natural.

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CHONGQING, China, July 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Daqo New Energy Corp. (NYSE: DQ) ("Daqo New Energy" or the "Company"), a leading manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, today announced updates to its previous polysilicon and wafer sales guidance for the second quarter of 2018 and reiterates its full year 2018 polysilicon production guidance.

The Company estimates that its polysilicon sales to external customers during the second quarter of 2018 will be approximately 3,800 MT to 3,900 MT, as compared to the previous guidance of approximately 5,300 MT to 5,500 MT. The Company sold approximately 2,600 MT of polysilicon during the first two weeks of July and reduced inventory to low levels.

The Company produced 5,659 MT of polysilicon during the second quarter of 2018, within the range of its previously announced guidance of 5,600 MT to 5,800 MT. The Company reiterates its full year 2018 polysilicon production guidance of 22,000 to 23,000 MT, which takes into account the impact of annual facility maintenance.

The Company also estimates that its wafer sales volume during the second quarter of 2018 amounted to approximately 9.5 million to 10.0 million pieces, as compared to the previous guidance of approximately 15.0 million to 20.0 million pieces.

The above updates are mainly attributable to the new solar PV policies issued by the Chinese government on May 31, 2018, which are expected to reduce solar installation quotas and feed-in tariffs in China during the second half of 2018. The policies created significant uncertainty in the domestic solar market and negatively impacted downstream demand. As a result, the Company's customers adjusted production plans and utilization levels, and due to the volatility of polysilicon average selling prices, a significant number of customer orders were not confirmed until the beginning of July.

Mr. Longgen Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of Daqo New Energy, commented, "We remain confident in the long-term sustainable growth of polysilicon industry despite the new policies' impact on shipments in the short-term. The new policies created significant uncertainty in the market and disrupted our downstream customer's production plans. At the same time, polysilicon average selling prices saw increased volatility in June but have since stabilized over the past two weeks."

"Leveraging our strong cash position, we maintained our production schedule believing that polysilicon ASPs would eventually stabilize and delayed shipments until demand returned in early July. During the first two weeks of July, polysilicon prices stabilized and our shipments returned to normal levels. We are currently running at full production capacity with low levels of inventory, which allows us to reiterate our full year production guidance. The sudden change in policy hasn't impacted our long-term strategic plan to strengthen our leadership position in the industry by further increasing our capacity, improving our cost structure and polysilicon purity."

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Thanks for that post! Good information. So they're already back to full capacity AND they reduced inventory. Full year guidance maintained (production, but not margin/profit, which can be expected to take a hit due to the lower ASPs).

If they were now producing at a loss, I would expect production to at least be curtailed, so I take this as a sign they will still have profits, even during this downturn.

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...If they were now producing at a loss, I would expect production to at least be curtailed, so I take this as a sign they will still have profits, even during this downturn.

I like it!

Imho producing at full capacity is just an indication that your selling price is above your production cash cost and you generate cash with each additional unit you produce. However It is not necessarily an indication that you are profitable, because for that your selling price needs to be high enough so you can cover the additional expenses besides production cash cost, namely depreciation and OPEX. I.E. theoretically you could be producing at full capacity and be still incurring big losses at the same time.

Luckily there's no need for wild speculations when it comes to DQ. Based on how their ASP has been trending relative to poly price indeces in the past you can infer a current ASP of around $12 which has them more or less at break-even imho.

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Yes, theoretically you can be producing at full capacity and still be incurring large losses. Theoretically, I can also take all my money and just chuck it out the window. The question becomes, who would do such a thing?

The only reason to produce at a net loss is to maintain market share in the hopes of better days ahead. And even then, you would certainly reduce your production to the bare minimum needed for survival. Their press release certainly doesn't make it sound like they're fighting for survival.

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Yes, theoretically you can be producing at full capacity and still be incurring large losses. Theoretically, I can also take all my money and just chuck it out the window. The question becomes, who would do such a thing?

The only reason to produce at a net loss is to maintain market share in the hopes of better days ahead. And even then, you would certainly reduce your production to the bare minimum needed for survival. Their press release certainly doesn't make it sound like they're fighting for survival.

Some players will keep utilization rate high as long as they are selling above cash production cost. It is not sound, but it benefits their competitive position and it reduces their loss.

I have read some articles that as the new capacity comes online, that older higher cost facilities will be/are being shutdown. Those new facilities are having production costs under $6/Kg. The older facilities at costs of $12+/Kg would clearly not be competitive. This would suggest that many companies will have write downs if they do such things in China accounting.

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I have read some articles that as the new capacity comes online, that older higher cost facilities will be/are being shutdown. Those new facilities are having production costs under $6/Kg. The older facilities at costs of $12+/Kg would clearly not be competitive. This would suggest that many companies will have write downs if they do such things in China accounting.

I think there was a wave of close down of smaller CN sites (<3kT) already in previous trough. For large sites at good locations I think upgrade of the advanced equipment would make more sense, since there is a lot of cost amnd definitely work behind fixed structures at these impressive plants. Closing down old sites at non-competitive locations makes sense though.

Yes write downs have been extensively used by CN companies. Not just by retired equipment but by inferior, still operating, equipment too.